


Twisted Empathy

by Diary



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Abused Isaac Lahey, Adoption, Awkward Conversations, Bechdel Test Fail, Bottle Episode Fic, Canon Queer Character, Character Study, Dubious Morality, Family Issues, Jackson Whittemore's Issues with Being Adopted, Love, Minor Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Moral Dilemmas, POV Jackson Whittemore, POV Male Character, POV Queer Character, Pre-Teen Wolf (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 01:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11498835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: Pre-series. A look at Jackson finding out about Coach Lahey's abuse and his decision not to tell. Complete.





	Twisted Empathy

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf.

Out of all the things Jackson doesn’t need to deal with right now, having to figure out who to tell about seeing Coach Lahey beating the crap out of Isaac is at the top.

If he tells his parents, they’re going to be more worried than normal about _him_ , but if he goes to the police, they could still find out, and this would be even worse than telling them right away. Going to the school guidance counsellor would be a joke.

“Jackson!” There’s a knock on his door.

“Come in,” he says.

His mom opens the door. “Baby, Isaac Lahey’s here. He was wondering if you have notes for chemistry class.”

He’ll give Lahey this: The lie is plausible, and it seems his mom completely buys it.

“Yeah, I do. He’s in the kitchen?”

Nodding, his mom comes over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Sweetie, do you think you could spend some time with him? Play some video games or get him to stay for dinner? I- worry about him. He’s so quiet and tentative, and he doesn’t have many friends, does he?”

“He doesn’t have any friends,” he responds.

A sad smile crosses her face. “I’m not asking you to start taking him along when you go out with Danny, but if you could just talk to him a little when you’re both at home-” She looks expectantly at him.

“Okay. Why don’t you tell him to come here? If I offer, he’ll just make excuses.”

“Thank you, baby. I love you.” She kisses his head.

“No problem.”

…

Isaac literally stands with his back pressed against the door and his fingers inches from the doorknob. “Please, don’t tell. Jackson, please. Don’t tell.”

He scoffs.

He knows abused kids are supposed to be treated gently and in ways that make it where they can retain their dignity, but one of the few things he’s never claimed to be good at is dealing with people in trouble and/or in pain. Gentleness has never come particularly easy to him, and if this scene is anything to go by, Isaac permanently forfeited his dignity long ago.

“Why don’t you want someone to help you?”

Looking over but still persistently avoiding eye contact, Isaac says, “My dad- he’s- It’s just- it was just- Today’s the anniversary. Of Cam, my brother, Camden, dying. I’m, uh, not sure why it’s called an anniversary. But, most of the time, my dad isn’t bad. They’d take me away. He could go to j-jail. I’m already a pariah. Please, Jackson, just don’t tell.”

“Your brother dying doesn’t give him the right to-”

“It’s one time,” Isaac desperately interrupts. “I can handle it. I swear, this is the first time. It’ll probably never happen again. When, if you have problems with your parents, would you want someone else getting involved? Especially if it meant you might lose them. It’s not just my brother, you know my mom died when I was eight.”

Then, he watches in interest as Isaac suddenly straightens a little and looks him in the eye. “If you tell, I’ll say- I’ll say it was a fight or a mugging or something. I’ll lie.”

He finds himself believing Isaac, and his pity and exasperation turns to outright irritation.

He doubts anyone would label him a liar, but there is a chance Isaac could convince people he’s mistaken. Cops and people from his dad’s firm could invade his family’s life. As for people getting involved- Lydia and Danny both often take his parents’ side over his, and he wouldn’t appreciate anyone but them taking any side, but then, his parents have never so much as even spanked him, let alone done what he saw Coach Lahey doing.

Isaac’s fifteen or sixteen, he knows. If Isaac were a little kid, Jackson doesn’t think he could stay quiet, but his dad has helped older teenagers from bad families get emancipated. Usually, around this age, most kids can make hard decisions on their own.

His temptation to just agree and send Isaac on his way is tempered by the sudden realisation Isaac could be internally bleeding or something along these lines in his room at this very moment.

“Take off your shirt,” he orders.

Isaac’s expression would be comedic under different circumstances.

He rolls his eyes. “Never mind the fact I have a girlfriend, do you really think I’d ever go for someone like you? I’m not going to hurt you or try anything. But you want this to stay between us? Take off your shirt.”

He keeps his gaze steady on Isaac’s face until Isaac tentatively takes off his shirt with shaky hands and holds it against his chest once it’s off.

Trying not to let out a noise of exasperation, he comes over and carefully pries the shirt out of Isaac’s hands. Tossing it aside, he moves Isaac’s arms down to Isaac’s sides. “Again, this isn’t me trying anything. Tell me if something hurts or feels weird.”

Eyes and hands trail over Isaac’s torso and back, and he listens when Isaac makes quiet interjections. There’s some visible bruising, and he can tell Isaac has a bruised rib, but there aren’t any tell-tell signs of it being broken.   

“Are you allergic to ibuprofen?”

“N-no.”

“Put your shirt back on.”

Digging out his bottle of ibuprofen and his first aid kit, he says, “I know this sounds counterproductive, but lie down on your right side.”

“O-on, on your bed?”

He bites back a sarcastic retort. “Yes, on the bed. Don’t worry, I’m taking the chair.”

Isaac does.

Activating the icepack, he brings it over. “Here, put this over your shirt on your chest, near your right side.”

Wincing at the contact, Isaac looks up as best he can.

“Take three deep breaths.”

Despite having trouble with the second and third, Isaac does.

He sits down. “In ten minutes, you need to take some ibuprofen. For now, tell me about your brother. I don’t remember much about him.”

Isaac makes a small, sad sound. “Cam liked your parents. I, uh, think he might have had a crush on your mom when he was younger. He was going to be an architect. Or he- he wanted to be. He enlisted so he could go to this school in New York. Dad couldn’t afford it, and he didn’t have the grades. He used to help Dad with fixing cars and stuff around the house. Made me a treehouse, once, but uh, that bad storm we had in 1996, it destroyed it.”

Looking up from his watch, he orders, “Take another three deep breaths.”

This time, the first two come easier.

“Was he involved with anyone? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?”

“No. He didn’t really date. He had a good friend on his squad, but she was just a friend. Jackson- why are- how do you know what to do? It still hurts, but everything feels better.”

“I’m on lacrosse, dummy. I just made captain. You think you’re the first or last person with a bruised rib I’ve been around? Three years ago, I broke my leg in two places. And Danny- Danny’s had his share of hospital trips. As for why I’m doing this, I refuse to be responsible if you walk out of my house and immediately keel over in my driveway.”

“Th-thanks.”

“Sit up."

Isaac does.

“Three more deep breaths.”

After Isaac does, he gives him the bottle. “Come on, you can take them in the bathroom.”

…

When they get back to his room, he says, “Here’s the deal: As long as no one asks, I won’t tell. But if someone asks, especially someone with a freaking badge or ability to add things to my transcripts, there’s no way in hell I’m lying for you.”

He didn’t realise how tightly Isaac was truly holding himself until Isaac lets out a soft sound of relief, and his whole body visibly slumps. “Thank you.”

“Can you stay for dinner?”

After a long moment of silence, he’s about to answer for Isaac, but Isaac gives a small headshake. “No. I, uh, I should get back to my dad. Thank you. Again.”

“Follow the directions on the bottle, put some more ice on your chest tonight, and try to sleep on the hurt side. Keep taking deep breaths every now and then."

…

“Did you and Isaac have fun, hon?”

This doesn’t count as someone asking if Isaac’s dad is abusing him, but he can’t just lie to his mom, either. Not about this.

“Mostly, we just talked. He had a bruised rib. Wouldn’t say where he got it from, but I know his dad wasn’t happy about it.”

She’d still consider this lying, but this is the best he can do. Isaac being injured isn’t a secret, now, and hopefully, if she or his dad calls Coach Lahey, they won’t give him the impression they suspect him of being the cause.

“Oh. Poor boy. I hope he wasn’t fighting. His brother used to get into fights every now and then. Sweetie, he isn’t being bullied, is he?”

“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen or heard anything. Mostly, he sticks to himself.”

“I worry about him,” she continues. “Coach Lahey hasn’t been the same since his wife died, and when-” Taking a sharp breath, she pulls him into a hug. “I’m sorry for him losing his brother, but Coach Lahey losing Camden. If not for Isaac, I’d say maybe, in some ways, her dying-”

Detangling himself, he wonders how she can possibly think like this.

Realistically, he can’t compare losing a child to losing a parent, but his biological parents died, and he hopes it doesn’t happen for a long time, but when the time comes, he’d rather die before either of his parents did. He knows losing him would hurt them, but he can’t believe it’d hurt them anywhere near as badly as something happening to them would him.

He guesses, in some ways, he does understand Isaac. His dad is blood, the only blood he has left aside from some distant relatives, and if Jackson’s parents ever stop wanting him, well, no one can be expected to love someone who isn’t truly family forever, but real family- people who have it should hold onto it.

Who is he to get in the way?


End file.
